Sunday, June 22, 2014

Good toys for baby's first Christmas?




ainawgsd


My MIL asked us about what we wanted for our son for Christmas. It's a hard question right now because he's only 3 months old and not quite ready to play with toys yet. His wants and needs are still pretty simple right now, although he is enjoying his time in the swing more and spending more time looking at his mobile. He already has some rattles, teething rings, a few bath toys, and stuffed animals but not much else. Any parents have suggestions for good toys for a 3-12 month old? I figure we might as well ask for some slightly older toys as well, we can always store them in the closet until he's old enough to play with them.


Answer
Exercauser
Bouncer
Jumperoo
Push toy
Soft blocks
Stacking rings
Bath toys
Anything labeled 0 - 12 months!

Most toys are labelled what age they are appropriate for. Many of the 18+ month toys are also great for kids 12 months old, since they advance at different levels.

By 12 months your baby will almost certainly be crawling, but may be walking and speaking their first word and signing perhaps another 5 (if you start teaching baby sign language at 7 months). So that covers a very wide toy range, from infant to toddler.

Perhaps a good way to go is to focus on crawler toys. Things used before the toddler stage, but that may encourage walking.

What are the best toys for a 6 month old?







Possibly something to help with learning to crawl.


Answer
In fact if youâre Christmas shopping with a infant in mind, you may find thereâs a boggling number of choices.

In the very early years safety is of special concern. A person wants to select well constructed toys, that are free of any sort of small parts that might potentially detach. Children at this age certainly will put toys in their mouths. Another reason one might also be concerned about the country of origin given the recent spate of tainted toys originating in China.

Toys for the the under one set are often aimed at emerging skills, such as fine and gross motor skills, tactile stimulation, etc.

Babies at 6 months are gaining the ability to sit up. And so toys that they can manipulate on the floor in front of them are attractive.

Babies between 6 and 12 moths of age will also begin to move (creep, crawl, take first steps) so there are many toys aimed at supporting this development too.

A few favorite suggestions:

Melissa & Doug Deluxe Wooden First Vehicles Set
www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Deluxe-Wooden-Vehicles/dp/B000GKY2CQ

Sturdy first vehicles for small children. The size and weight are appropriate for very young children to grasp and carry. I find that many young children will spend endless amount of time pushing a small rolling toy around. These are toys that they are likely to play with for a good long while. I do not know what the country of origin is, Melissa & Doug is a favorite brand - some of their things are made in China, others in other Asian nations such as Vietnam.

Blocks
http://fatbraintoys.com/toy_companies/haba/fantasy_blocks.cfm
(Also available for sale thru various sellers on Amazon.com)

Blocks are also another great âgrow with me toyâ. Even very young children will enjoy a small set of colorful blocks which they can simply pick up and explore. These can be added to as the child grows into more sophisticated pretend and build play. Haba makes some beautifully whimsical blocks that are manufactured in Germany.

Sorters
www.amazon.com

Sorters come in, well, all âsortsâ of sizes, colors, and configurations for young kids. And are often treasured toys for kids between 6 mos and a year and a half or so. They love to place objects inside of something and dump them out again and again. Melissa and Doug make some toys they label as âfill and spillâ with cute themes (bugs in a jug, fishbowl, picnic baskets etc.). Thereâs also the old fashion âshape sortersâ and these come in many âthemesâ these days too. For examples, just try searching for âshape sorterâ or âfill and spillâ on Amazon.com.

If you are concerned about the nation of origin - I will note that FatBrainToys.com is one toy website that allows customers to conduct product searches that include not only age, gender, price, but also the country of origin (and it allows you to exclude China if you so wish).




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